A sentiment I hear often this time of year is that this weekend is when college basketball truly begins. By which, they are inferring they’d rather watch the NFL, but there’s no playoff game next weekend so I guess we’ll watch some college basketball. WELL I’LL TELL YOU SOMETHING, SIRS AND MA’AMS. ACC BASKETBALL IS LIFE. THERE IS NOTHING BUT ACC BASKETBALL. IF YOU’RE COMING TO THE PARTY NOW, YOU ARE TOO LATE AND ARE UNWELCOME. I, FOR ONE, DO NOT CARE FOR THE NFL AND BITE MY THUMB AT THOSE OF YOU – wait, Russell Wilson did what? COOL! A-C-C! A-C-C! A-C-C!

1 – Virginia: The Cavaliers continue their unbeaten run. It’s highly unlikely that a team could run the table in this daunting conference. However, I can think of one person who just won’t stop believing.

2 – Notre Dame: It wasn’t “Catholics vs. Convicts” from the 1980s, but the Notre Dame-Miami game on Saturday was an exciting basketball contest. The Irish came away with the home win, but it was a reminder how fun the top of this conference will be in 2015.

4 – NC State: The Wolfpack didn’t have Cat Barber, but went to Tallahassee and grinded out a win against Florida State. A big win for Coach Mike Gottfried, who looks an awful lot like Trevor Lacey.

5 – Duke: The Blue Devils got back to its winning ways with victories against Louisville and Pittsburgh. ESPN has 999 problems, but Coach K’s next win ain’t one.

6 – Miami: We have a lot of fun here, but this is a pretty serious – and amazing – story about Jim Larranaga dedicating their win over Duke to a Miami alum and former basketball player who passed away days later. Give it a read.

7 – Louisville: The Cardinals, along with Syracuse, were in this awkward spot where neither has good wins nor bad losses. Then Syracuse lost to Clemson so have fun with that island, Cardinals.

8 – Pittsburgh: The Panthers deserve a medal for getting us one step closer to referring to Duke as a basketball team and not the embodiment of Mike Krzyzewski’s march towards a round number that in no way will make him a better coach. Thank you, Pittsburgh. Thank you.

9 – Florida State: Florida State followed a tough loss to NC State by knocking off Clemson. Just like the last time FSU beat Clemson, Jameis Winston was not a factor in the outcome.

10 – Clemson: The Clemson Tigers – the superior orange team in the ACC!

11 – Syracuse: I was writing this during Syracuse-Boston College. I was terribly concerned about where I’d have to drop Syracuse if they found a way to lose.

12 – Boston College: After snapping their slide against Harvard, going 0-2 this week has to be pretty deflating for the Eagles. Get it? Because Boston’s NFL team … never mind.

13 – Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons enjoyed an off weekend to prepare for their home game against North Carolina tomorrow night. We’ll see how much that helps them.

14 – Georgia Tech: The good news for Atlanta sports fans is that at least they have the Braves … who traded Evan Gattis this week, right, never mind, excuse me while I cry.